On the other hand, you have your speculative banking services. That includes investment banking.
The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 required banks to keep those separate — indeed, to keep them as separate companies. It was triggered by financial collapses brought about by the Stock Market Crash and Great Depression.
The go-go 90s ushered in an era of bank mergers, and that sort of regulatory separation seemed rather quaint and, frankly, insane-profit-preventing. So the regulators and Congress started disassembling Glass-Steagall, and banks discovered (a) all those deposits made great capital for all sorts of risky investments, and (b) they had become "too big to fail" during the inevitable bubble bursts, because if they went under because of their risky investments, well, it would hurt all those checking accounts and savings accounts.
So maybe it's about time we set up something to keep the folks with gambling addiction separate from the folks watching our personal savings. It's crazy, I know, and the chance that the GOP (or some financial-institution-beholding Dems) will pass it are minuscule. But trying to do something is better than accepting an ongoing series of financial boom/busts due to greed not being so good (for the economy) for very long.
Warren Joins McCain to Push New Glass-Steagall Law for Banks
Senator Elizabeth Warren said a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are introducing legislation aimed at separating commercial and investment banking, recreating a Depression-era firewall established by the Glass- Steagall Act but repealed in 1999.
If you're going to call out GOP for blocking progress on something like this, at least point out that your boy Clinton pushed for, and crowed about once accomplished, repeal of the original Glass-Steagall regulations.
Well noted, Bruce. The Go-Go 90s were non-partisan in terms of zany optimism that bubbles never burst and all those old-fangled regulations were only standing in the way of higher levels of
campaign supportprofit.John McCain in charge of banking reform? Pfui, some people have short memories, no?
Ah, yes, the Keating Five … still, a broken clock is correct twice a day, as they say.